5 Worst Lightsaber Designs

“This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.”

Horse crap.

Lightsabers were first made from camera flash tubes, sink knobs, and grenade parts. These features were then extrapolated and exploited in Star Wars for the next 30 years. During that time we've seen a LOT of different sabers. And almost none of them are practical.

This can be attributed to "greebles". What are they?

Greeble : a fine detailing added to the surface of a larger object that makes it appear more complex, and therefore more visually interesting. It usually gives the audience an impression of increased scale.

It's something that serves no purpose whatsoever. So it would only make sense that lightsabers would have a whole bunch of them. But the thing is, we've now come to expect this from lightsabers. In a fictional universe fine. However more and more people are actually starting to hold something they've seen on screen for years. Instead of the reasonable response of thinking "oh this is horrible". They are trying to convince themselves it's comfortable and even useful.

Imagine if this was the only mop you had available.

Anyway.  Here's a list of *some* of the worst lightsabers out there. Enjoy

5. Darth Vader

I thought about putting the Graflex on here, but why not condense Anakin's poor ergonomic decisions all in one. Improving upon his earlier designs, the galaxy's best Jedi or worst Sith (I don't know) made a few modifications. The control box (the big thing in the middle of the saber) is now more pronounced. Apparently the hand grips are still needed. And to top it all off there are now several screws near the emitter.

We've all been tempted to get one or more of the sabers we grew up watching. But you'll quickly find out that they aren't the best for actually holding.

Conclusion: A great saber for those who've had most their limbs cut off and are now rocking robot hands.

4. Mara Jade

This should have been #1. I mean just look at it.

Good luck finding a comfortable place to hold this. I mean ...maybe the bottom. But anywhere else you're out of luck. When designing a weapon, it's a good idea to make it practical to hold in almost any position. 

Again- look at that box. If you zoom in, it kind of looks like a little factory that's sole job is to make this saber as horrible as possible. So point being, choose a saber that doesn't have a bunch of crap all over it.

Conclusion: A smattering of bolts and boxes make this saber as relevant as the character now is.


3. Exar Kun

Fun fact: this was almost what Darth Maul's saber looked like in Episode I. It wasn't until Ray Park suggested that instead of regular hilt with 2 blades, they should double the hilt size to make it , you know, a little more practical.

But apparently Exar Kun is so powerful, that he can totally ignore physics. For all of us regular folk, make sure your weapon is an appropriate length to, you know, use.

Conclusion: Probably the worst designed weapon in the galaxy.

2. Obi-Wan Kenobi

How this saber was ever made- I don't know. They took a grenade from WWI, a sink knob, and several other random parts to make the only other saber people saw for years. And you know what? It's impossible to hold. The bottom control box is positioned perfectly to not allow a bottom hand. This is why you see the actors practicing with much more "practical" weapons when not needed to be screen accurate.

And secondly, thin necked sabers are not the most sturdy of weapons. A small metal tube does not a sturdy weapon make.

Conclusion: An otherwise iconic saber ruined by a control box.

1. Tenel Ka

I get the whole Jedi thing about making your saber out of found materials and stuff that means something to you. But come on. Even Jedi have to hold their weapons at some point. Sure you can use one hand, and blah blah blah. This is the kind of weapon you'd make while trying to escape a coconut prison. Just no. If I was in charge of mandating what lightsabers can and cannot be made out of. A freaking tooth would be at the top of the list. Let's have some standards people.

Conclusion: don't make sabers out of teeth or bone.

So there you have it. A bunch of lightsabers that were made to look a certain way, but never function. Instead now there are people who are trying to make them a reality. With the advent of lightsaber combat coming into the even the smallest part of the public consciousness. Many people are going to want to emulate their favorite character and use their saber design. What they'll quickly find out is that just because something looks cool, rarely means it functions like you want it to.

Use the Force and common sense!